Ukraine’s Ex-Premier, Tymoshenko, Jailed for 7 Years - The New York Times The New York Times Europe |Former Ukraine Premier Is Jailed for 7 Years Search Continue reading the main story Photo As the verdict in her case was being read on Tuesday in court, former Prime Minister Yulia V. Tymoshenko rose and said, “This is an authoritarian regime.” Credit James Hill for The New York Times KIEV, Ukraine — From the moment President Viktor F. Yanukovich took office last year, a central question was whether he would lead Ukraine west, toward Europe, or into a tight symbiosis with the country’s Soviet-era masters in Moscow. Nineteen months of cautious navigation hit a watershed on Tuesday, when a court in Kiev sentenced the country’s most prominent opposition politician, Yulia V. Tymoshenko , to seven years in prison. European leaders have condemned the case as politically motivated, and hinted that they are unlikely to ratify a free trade and association agreement with Ukraine, a project four years in the making. Ms.

Tymoshenko, an acerbic populist who represents the European-leaning west of the country, rose to drown out the judge’s voice as he read out the verdict, speaking directly to a bank of television cameras. “This is an authoritarian regime,” she said. “Against the background of European rhetoric, Yanukovich is taking Ukraine farther from Europe by launching such political trials.” As bailiffs led her from the courtroom, Ms. Tymoshenko turned in the doorway to wave goodbye, a small figure in a white coat and a helmet of blond braids. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Prosecutors say Ms. Tymoshenko harmed Ukraine’s interests when, as prime minister, she carried out negotiations with Russia in 2009 over the price of natural gas . Tuesday’s ruling excludes her from politics for 10 years, and levies a fine of about $190 million. But international legal experts say that she seems to have been performing a routine administrative function for which she might conceivably be disciplined, if the government was displeased with her performance, but not charged with a crime. Photo Several hundred of Ms.

Tymoshenko's supporters, who had set up tents outside the courthouse in Kiev, clashed with about 1,500 riot police officers. Credit Sergei Chuzavkov/Associated Press With Ms. Tymoshenko’s trial at an end, European governments will have to decide whether to make good on their warnings that imprisoning her will freeze efforts to integrate with Ukraine politically and economically. On one hand, Mr. Yanukovich has defied intense diplomatic pressure from Western partners, crossing what one analyst called “the reddest of red lines.” On the other hand, Ukraine has been under pressure from Russia to join its own economic bloc, along with Kazakhstan and Belarus. Even compared with the other former Soviet nations, Ukraine — with a population of 46 million — seems to waver between Europe and Russia, so that isolating it from the West could have profound consequences. Mr. Yanukovich has made integrating with Europe a central goal, and he is likely to head off catastrophic damage by softening Ms. Tymoshenko’s conviction swiftly. One route to this would be decriminalizing the article under which she was convicted.

In that event, her name would be cleared and she would be able to run in parliamentary elections in 2012, said Serhiy Vlasenko, one of her lawyers. This could occur as soon as next week, so that Mr. Yanukovich would be welcome at European Union talks in Brussels scheduled for Oct. 20. He suggested as much on Tuesday, when he told journalists, “This is not a final decision.” “Ahead lies the appeals court, and it will without a doubt make a decision within the bounds of the law, but the decision will have great significance,” he said, in comments carried by the Interfax news agency. In Brussels, Ukraine’s foreign minister emphasized the progress that the country has made toward meeting European benchmarks, saying the parties “have never been so close to the association agreement as they are now.” A Foreign Ministry statement argued strenuously against linking the Tymoshenko verdict with the European Union procedure, making the case that political leaders like Mr. Yanukovich could not interfere in judicial processes. As news of the verdict spread on Tuesday, though, some in Kiev said Ms. Tymoshenko’s conviction was already marked in Ukraine’s history.

Critics of the verdict warned that Ukraine could follow the pattern set by Belarus, whose nascent engagement with the West came to an abrupt end last year amid a crackdown on opposition figures. Video TimesCast | Former Ukraine Leader Jailed October 11, 2011 - Yulia V. Tymoshenko, the former Ukrainian prime minister, is sentenced to seven years in prison. By Nadia Sussman on Publish Date October 11, 2011. . Watch in Times Video » embed “For the past 10 years, we were in the process of getting to a democratic state,” said Yulia Shcherban, a travel agent. “I agree that people who are dishonest must be charged. But in Ukraine, we are going back in the opposite direction and getting back to the days of the Soviet state: Either you are with those in power or you are against them and you are in trouble. She was against those in power.” Advertisement Continue reading the main story Criticism came from a range of foreign capitals on Tuesday.

Poland’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying, “Ukraine’s image as a country that is undertaking a fundamental pro-European transformation has been tarnished.” The White House released a statement urging Ukraine to release Ms. Tymoshenko and other jailed political leaders, and to allow them to run in next year’s parliamentary elections. Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, said the trial “unfortunately confirms that justice is being applied selectively in politically motivated prosecutions of the leaders of the opposition and members of the former government.” Russia, too, condemned the verdict in Ms. Tymoshenko’s case — in part because her conviction centered on a deal she struck with Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin in 2009, agreeing to pay what prosecutors called an excessively high price for Russian natural gas. Russian analysts said Ukraine might be trying to annul Ms. Tymoshenko’s gas deal and renegotiate for a better price. Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to.

Sign Up Privacy Policy Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the prosecution was “initiated exclusively for political motives,” and noted “an obvious anti-Russian subtext to this whole story.” Mr. Putin, who is on a visit to Beijing, told reporters, “I don’t really understand what they gave her seven years for.” Several hundred supporters of Ms. Tymoshenko set up tent camps outside the courtroom on Tuesday, and the police were nervous enough to deploy 1,500 riot police officers in balaclavas and camouflage. But the case is unlikely to mobilize the throngs that coalesced around Ms. Tymoshenko in 2004, when, dressed in the style of an unusually glamorous peasant woman, she became the face of the pro-Western Orange Revolution. The euphoria faded over the next few years, as the members of the Orange coalition bickered endlessly among themselves and Ukraine’s economy foundered. During the last presidential election, Ms. Tymoshenko struggled to engage her voting base — Ukrainian speakers from the west of the country — and lost narrowly to Mr. Yanukovich, who represents the more Russified east. Mr.

Yanukovich surprised many by embracing an emphatically pro-European path, but that choice did not extend to domestic politics. His inauguration marked the opening of numerous criminal cases against his political rivals, a tactic some trace back to his experience in the bare-knuckled politics of eastern coal country. Leslie Wayne contributed reporting from Kiev, and Michael Schwirtz from Moscow. A version of this article appears in print on October 12, 2011, on Page A4 of the New York edition with the headline: Former Ukraine Premier Is Jailed for 7 Years. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe Ukraine's president firm against Tymoshenko Ukraine's president firm against Tymoshenko Angela Charlton, Associated Press Pin it Share DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) -- Ukraine's president showed no mercy Friday for imprisoned former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, despite increasing fears that her case will hurt his country's struggling economy and its relations with the European Union. The gas contract with Russia that was the premise for Tymoshenko's conviction "is Ukraine's biggest problem today," President Viktor Yanukovych said at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.

He added that he foresaw more judicial troubles for the ex-premier. Tymoshenko, a bitter rival of the current president, is serving a 7-year sentence on charges of abuse of office in a case the West has condemned as politically motivated. Her family accuses prison authorities of denying her proper medical care. Tymoshenko was found guilty last year of overstepping her authority while negotiating the natural gas import contract with Russia in 2009. Authorities say the contract was not in Ukraine's economic interest. She charges that Yanukovych has ordered her imprisonment in order to bar her from elections. Yanukovych's presence at the forum in Davos was aimed at attracting investment from international CEOs at the invitation-only event, but his comments about Tymoshenko did little to soothe concerns about doing business in Ukraine. Ukraine "cannot hope to attract investment if the law doesn't apply," Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said. He told The Associated Press that a landmark cooperation deal between Ukraine and the EU is "dead in the water" as long as Tymoshenko is jailed. But Tymoshenko's jailing is a dilemma for the EU.

Some experts believe the bloc should not be partners with a government that throws opposition leaders in jail. Others say that snubbing Ukraine would push it back under Russia's influence as Kiev is courting Moscow for cheaper natural gas. Tymoshenko rose to fame during Ukraine's 2004 popular uprising. She became an opposition leader after losing the premiership in 2010. Yanukovych has made membership in the 27-nation EU a top priority, but exhibited little sign Friday that he was ready to concede on the Tymoshenko case. The state security service has launched a slew of new criminal investigations against Tymoshenko since her conviction, probes that Yanukovych defended. "The Ukrainian part of the crimes committed by people who were in one way or another connected to Tymoshenko have not been fully investigated," he said — adding that the cases will go to court soon. Yanukovych was cold to efforts to adopt changes to the criminal code that would allow the former prime minister to be freed. "That is up to the parliament," he said. The parliament is dominated by his supporters.

Reblog Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukraine's Imprisoned Former Prime Minister, Likely To Be Released After Vote | The Huffington Post Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukraine's Imprisoned Former Prime Minister, Likely To Be Released After Vote 21/02/2014 17:41 | Updated 21 February 2014 Paul Vale Front Page Editor, The Huffington Post The Ukrainian parliament has voted in favour of stripping a law that could allow for the release of country's former Prime Minister. Yulia Tymoshenko, who was defeated in 2010 presidential elections by President Viktor Yanukovych, was imprisoned in 2011 on likely trumped up charges relating to an abuse of office. Ukraine’s parliament voted on Friday to remove the law under which she was jailed, legislation that Yanukovych must now sign. The vote passed by 310 to 140, a majority that should ensure Tymoshenko's release even if her bitter political rival refuses to ratify the law.

An opposition activist in Independence Square stands in front of a picture of Tymoshenko Earlier on Friday, Yanukovych said that he had reached a deal with opposition leaders following one of the deadliest days of fighting in three months of protests. European Union ministers have been trying to broker a political settlement after gun battles between police and anti-government protesters brought the death toll to 77 in just two days. The Yulia Tymoshenko contradiction - BBC News BBC News Mark Urban Diplomatic and defence editor, BBC Newsnight 10 December 2013 Media captionWatch Mark Urban's Newsnight film in full Ukraine is in political crisis again. Since its "Orange Revolution" nine years ago, pro-Western and pro-Russian groups have contended for political power. The current president, Viktor Yanukovych, stands accused by protesters of turning his back on Europe, after refusing to sign a partnership agreement with the EU. They also accuse him of conducting a vendetta against former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who was imprisoned more than two years ago for abuse of power. Outside General Clinic No 5, in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, the incongruity of it all was striking.

The hospital, in which opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko is held, is something out of Soviet times - an ugly, concrete monstrosity where security men in plain clothes patrol the grounds, keeping prying eyes away from a woman regarded by millions of supporters as a political prisoner. Yanukovych spent millions on these audit companies and they all stated they couldn't find one penny of her corruption or abuse of power Eugenia Tymoshenko Sitting in the hospital car park was a black Range Rover surrounded by bodyguards, and inside it we interviewed Mrs Tymoshenko's daughter Eugenia. She was clad in designer black, she speaks English fluently after schooling and university education in the UK, and looks more like Natalie Portman about to step out on to a Hollywood red carpet than the average person's idea of a political dissident. That is the Tymoshenko contradiction. Yulia Tymoshenko's imprisonment by the government of Mr Yanukovych causes European human rights groups to denounce him for persecuting a political opponent and turns her into an opposition idol.

Yet others claim the abuse of office conviction is just the tip of the iceberg and they allege that she lined her pockets while betraying the 2004 Orange Revolution in Ukraine. When I asked her whether her mother was an honest woman, Eugenia argued: "Yanukovych spent millions on these audit companies and they all stated they couldn't find one penny of her corruption or abuse of power." Image copyright AP Image caption Eugenia Tymoshenko has kept her mother's plight in the spotlight Back in the mid-1990s, when former state industries were being privatised in post-Soviet republics and there were fortunes to be made, Yulia Tymoshenko went into the gas business. The family says that's the origin of her wealth. However Sergei Leshchenko, the deputy editor of Ukrainian Pravda, alleges that she entered parliament in 1996 to gain immunity from prosecution after allegations of financial irregularities.

As to the scale of the possible problems, he points to claims that Yulia Tymoshenko sent $100m (£60m) to former Ukrainian prime minister Pavlo Lazarenko, which emerged in a US court that convicted him of corruption charges in 2006. When I asked her about the Lazarenko case, Eugenia Tymoshenko insisted that the American court had not indicted her mother or found her guilty of any offence. "It's just something that pro-Yanukovych people use against her," she said, although Mr Leshchenko, who has written a book about the Lazarenko affair, is certainly no friend of the president. Yulia Tymoshenko was convicted in a Ukrainian court, but in a process widely condemned by opposition groups as politically motivated. Image copyright Reuters Image caption Police and protesters have clashed in snowy central Kiev What's striking though is that her supporters do not care about the mud-slinging and accusations. Eugenia's expensive clothes, bodyguards, and upmarket vehicles don't seem to bother them either. These are the everyday features of those who wield power and money in a post-Soviet republic.

When I asked Mr Leshchenko, who's extensively investigated official corruption in Ukraine, whether anyone has come through the country's recent upheavals with clean hands, he suggested it was possible since "not everyone wanted to be a billionaire". Could Yulia Tymoshenko still become president one day? Mr Leshchenko thinks it's feasible given her "charisma", although he thinks it likely that a younger, less compromised figure will eventually come through. Eugenia said "I hope so" when I asked the same question. The interview with her concluded, Eugenia and her bodyguards sped off into the swirling snow and I was left to contemplate the Tymoshenko phenomenon. It's a measure of how broken and cynical politics in Ukraine has become that corruption allegations and a criminal conviction do not apparently put paid to someone's political career. Many Ukrainians suggested to me that President Yanukovych's misdemeanours in office have been far worse than Yulia Tymoshenko's and indeed it is his behaviour, in imprisoning the former prime minister, that has revived her political fortunes. You can watch Mark's report for Newsnight on the BBC iPlayer or via the Newsnight website.

Ukraine's president firm against Tymoshenko Ukraine's president firm against Tymoshenko ANGELA CHARLTON Pin it Share DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — Ukraine's president showed no mercy Friday for imprisoned former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, despite increasing fears that her case will hurt his country's struggling economy and its relations with the European Union. The gas contract with Russia that was the premise for Tymoshenko's conviction "is Ukraine's biggest problem today," President Viktor Yanukovych said at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. He added that he foresaw more judicial troubles for the ex-premier. Tymoshenko, a bitter rival of the current president, is serving a 7-year sentence on charges of abuse of office in a case the West has condemned as politically motivated. Her family accuses prison authorities of denying her proper medical care. Tymoshenko was found guilty last year of overstepping her authority while negotiating the natural gas import contract with Russia in 2009. Authorities say the contract was not in Ukraine's economic interest. She charges that Yanukovych has ordered her imprisonment in order to bar her from elections.

Yanukovych's presence at the forum in Davos was aimed at attracting investment from international CEOs at the invitation-only event, but his comments about Tymoshenko did little to soothe concerns about doing business in Ukraine. Ukraine "cannot hope to attract investment if the law doesn't apply," Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said. He told The Associated Press that a landmark cooperation deal between Ukraine and the EU is "dead in the water" as long as Tymoshenko is jailed. But Tymoshenko's jailing is a dilemma for the EU. Some experts believe the bloc should not be partners with a government that throws opposition leaders in jail. Others say that snubbing Ukraine would push it back under Russia's influence as Kiev is courting Moscow for cheaper natural gas. Tymoshenko rose to fame during Ukraine's 2004 popular uprising. She became an opposition leader after losing the premiership in 2010. Yanukovych has made membership in the 27-nation EU a top priority, but exhibited little sign Friday that he was ready to concede on the Tymoshenko case.

The state security service has launched a slew of new criminal investigations against Tymoshenko since her conviction, probes that Yanukovych defended. "The Ukrainian part of the crimes committed by people who were in one way or another connected to Tymoshenko have not been fully investigated," he said — adding that the cases will go to court soon. Yanukovych was cold to efforts to adopt changes to the criminal code that would allow the former prime minister to be freed. "That is up to the parliament," he said. The parliament is dominated by his supporters. Reblog Jailed former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko announces bid for Ukraine presidency - Telegraph Jailed former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko announces bid for Ukraine presidency Opposition leader vows to defend country from Russian 'aggression' and fight for the return of annexed Crimea Former Ukrainian prime minister and opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko speaks during a press conference in Kiev Photo: AFP Follow Yulia Tymoshenko, the leader of Ukraine's 2004 Orange Revolution, launched her bid to become president on Thursday, pledging to defend the country from Russian "aggression".

Ms Tymoshenko said she would contest May's presidential elections on a platform of firm opposition to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, describing him as "the No. 1 enemy of Ukraine". The former prime minister, 53, will now join a colourful race that is also expected to include the boxer, Vitali Klitschko, and Petro Poroshenko, a billionaire chocolate baron who helped finance the recent anti-government protests. The party of the country's ousted president, Viktor Yanukovych, is also in the process of choosing a candidate, and will formally expel him from its ranks on Saturday as part of a rebranding effort. Ms Tymoshenko's bid for office comes just a month after she was released from jail for what were widely seen as trumped-up corruption charges brought by the Yanukovych regime. Related Articles Ukraine's spy dolphins switch allegiance to Russia 26 Mar 2014 With Ukrainians now fearing a full-scale Russian invasion, she pledged on Thursday to build up a strong army and address widespread discontent in the mainly Russian-speaking East. She even said she would try to secure the return of Crimea, annexed by Mr Putin earlier this month.

"I am convinced that I will be able to defend the country from aggression," she declared. "I hold out a hope for the return of occupied Crimea." With her distinctive braided hairstyle, and role as the heroine of Ukraine's previous revolution in 2004, Ms Tymoshenko is arguably the best-known of the country's politicians internationally. But her global profile is no guarantee of victory in her homeland, where there is now a growing weariness with leaders associated with the turmoil of the last decade. Swept to office after the Orange Revolution, Ms Tymoshenko squandered the goodwill she initially enjoyed by squabbling with other leaders and leading a hopelessly ineffective government. As such, she is blamed by many Ukrainians for allowing Mr Yanukovych to win power in 2010. And while her time in jail allows her to paint herself as a pro-Western martyr, opponents question the idea that she was entirely innocent. She was convicted of abuse of office for negotiating a 2009 deal for Russian gas imports at prices deemed to be excessively favourable to Moscow.

Mr Yanukovych's party insists that this was done in the hope of winning support for her bid in the 2010 elections from Mr Putin - the very man she now professes to despise. A poll that appeared in Kiev earlier this week gave her only 8.2 per cent of the vote, against 8.9 per cent for Mr Klitschko and 24.9 per cent for Mr Poroshenko. On Thursday, she showed signs of forging a new image, ditching her braids and appearing with a walking stick, a legacy of back problems she suffered while in jail. Meanwhile, a senior figure in Mr Yanukovych's Party of Regions told The Telegraph that it would formally expel him at a meeting on Saturday, as part of a radical overhaul to repair the damage done by his "catastrophic" rule. Borys Kolesnikov, the party's deputy head, said the movement would also be reformed to ensure that no leader would ever again be able to monopolise power in the way Mr Yanukovych had done. "Yanukovych and his team will be excluded from the party," Mr Kolesnikov said.

"It was a great mistake that he concentrated the power in his hands, and unfortunately it led to catastrophe." Mr Yanukovych is wanted by the new government on charges of mass murder after allegedly ordering police to open fire on opposition protesters last month, killing more than 100 people. Mr Putin has granted him sanctuary in Russia, much to Kiev's fury. Yesterday Gerhard Schroeder, the former German chancellor, came under fire for saying that Mr Putin should not be lectured by the West over Crimea. Mr Schroeder has compared the annexation of Crimea to NATO's intervention in Serbia's Kosovo province in 1999 - comments that many say are motivated by the £200,000-a-year job he now holds with Russian energy giant Gazprom. Hashim Thaci, Kosovo's prime minister, said: "Under no circumstances can the Kosovo case be compared with the case of Crimea. Kosovo is a unique case.

The international community intervened after the genocide by Serbia took place." Ukraine's former PM insists on innocence in abuse-of-office trial | World news | The Guardian Ukraine's former PM insists on innocence in abuse-of-office trial Yulio Tymoshenko makes lengthy court speech accusing president of trying to get rid of her A protester places flowers on a placard depicting former PM Yulia Tymoshenko during a protest in front of the court. Photograph: Genya Savilov/AFP/Getty Images Associated Press in Kiev Thursday 29 September 2011 13.50 EDT First published on Thursday 29 September 2011 13.50 EDT Close This article is 5 years old Former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko has insisted on her innocence in an emotional final speech in an abuse-of-office trial. The top opposition leader broke with her tradition of refusing to rise when addressing the court, standing up from her seat and turning away from Judge Rodion Kireyev to address the small courtroom, packed with supporters, journalists and foreign diplomats. Choking back tears, she accused her longtime foe, President Viktor Yanukovych , of "lynching" her to get rid of a tough political opponent.

"The president of Ukraine considers me a dangerous political opponent – and rightly so," Tymoshenko said. "I will devote my life to making sure that Ukraine becomes free." Clad in an elegant coffee-with-cream dress and jacket, her blond hair wrapped around her head in a trademark braid, she said it was pointless to address the judge, because Yanukovych has already written a guilty verdict. Tymoshenko, 50, has been charged with exceeding her authority during the signing of a natural gas import contract with Russia in 2009. Prosecutors claim that Tymoshenko had not been officially authorised to approve the deal and believe the price she agreed was too high. The United States and the European Union have criticised the trial as politically motivated and Brussels has warned that jailing Tymoshenko may cost Ukraine its planned integration with the EU. Tymoshenko has spent nearly two months in jail as part of the trial on contempt of court charges. She is a charismatic but divisive figure, who was the driving force behind the 2004 Orange Revolution that brought hundreds of thousands on to the streets of Kiev to protest against fraudulent election results that showed Yanukovych winning.

Although that election was later annulled, Yanukovych narrowly defeated Tymoshenko in a 2010 vote to become president, as Ukrainians grew angry with constant bickering within the Orange camp. Tymoshenko said that she takes pride in the 2009 gas contract, because it ended a bitter pricing dispute between Moscow and Kiev that led to severe energy shortages in Ukraine and across Europe. She said she did not need any special permission for the contract as the country's prime minister. "At that time I acted legally, logically and effectively," Tymoshenko said. "The crisis was solved." Her lengthy speech was often interrupted by applause from her supporters, prompting Kireyev to demand silence. Tymoshenko's trial is part of a web of corruption investigations targeting her and her senior aides. Tymoshenko calls the probe a witch-hunt, but the government insists it is merely fighting corruption. Earlier in the day, Tymoshenko's lawyer Mykola Siry told the court that the prosecutors' case made no sense and quipped that the people who wrote it were mentally unfit.

Siry said that the prosecutors claim that the gas contract was highly unfavorable for Ukraine but that Tymoshenko concluded it in order to gain popularity was absurd. "It's ridiculous to make such stupid statements and think that somebody will believe it," Siry said. As Ukraine turns to Russia, Yulia Tymoshenko stays in prison - The Washington Post As Ukraine turns to Russia, Yulia Tymoshenko stays in prison The inside track on Washington politics. Be the first to know about new stories from PowerPost. Sign up to follow, and we’ll e-mail you free updates as they’re published. You’ll receive free e-mail news updates each time a new story is published. You’re all set! By Kathy Lally and Will Englund November 26, 2013 MOSCOW — For many in the United States and Europe, Ukraine’s future had been bound up with the fate of a former prime minister with halo-like braids who was jailed in an act of political retribution. Freeing Yulia Tymoshenko , according to this view, would affirm Ukraine’s commitment to the rule of law and democracy.

Her release, it was said, would demonstrate Ukraine’s fitness to enter an “association agreement” with the European Union and declare itself a Western nation. Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, had other plans. This month he met quietly with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. Last week, Ukraine said it was dropping its efforts to enter the E.U. agreement — despite months of declaring its intention to sign. Yanukovych spoke of Russian pressure and economic threats — and reportedly even blackmail. And Tymoshenko? She turns 53 on Wednesday, almost certainly in prison, where she has been for the past two years, serving a seven-year sentence for abuse of power, imprisoned ostensibly because she signed an expensive gas deal with Russia. Her country appears caught between two worlds, desiring the long-term rewards of the West but fearing the immediate reality of Russian threats. Demonstrators hold up a flag with the face of jailed former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko during a protest in Kiev, Ukraine, Nov. 24. (Sergei Chuzavkov/AP) As his critics see it, Yanukovych has surrendered to Russia.

For him, Russian threats to disrupt Ukraine’s fragile economy outweighed the benefits that the country would get from releasing Tymoshenko. But by keeping her in prison, he has forfeited the possibility of Western support. And now, critics of Yanukovych say, he has little bargaining power with heavy-handed Moscow. The turn away from Europe has brought demonstrators out across the country. Over the weekend, 50,000 or more gathered in Kiev, shouting that Ukraine is European. Tymoshenko declared a hunger strike as of Tuesday, demanding that Yanu­kovych change his mind. A petition with more than a million signatures backing the agreement with the E.U., collected over the past three weeks, was delivered to the Ukrainian president on Saturday. “Only a miracle can change the situation,” Mykhailo Pogrebinsky, head of the Kiev Center for Political and Conflict Studies, said in a telephone interview. Ukraine decided against the deal with Europe, Pogrebinsky said, because the International Monetary Fund presented unpalatable terms for loans. Russia offered attractive inducements — such as calling off its trade war, which officials said was costing Ukraine about 25,000 jobs every month.

“Yes, Russia must have promised something,” Pogrebinsky said. “Loans, for example. Large ones. Maybe $15 billion. It might have promised something about gas, maybe that they would decrease the price of gas.” Inevitably, Ukraine’s problems come back to natural gas — and Yulia Tymoshenko. In 2004, Tymoshenko rose to political glory as a leader of the Orange Revolution , when demonstrators filled Kiev’s Independence Square to protest Yanukovych’s victory in a badly flawed presidential election. The election was redone. Yanukovych lost. Tymoshenko and others came to power but eventually lost voter confidence. In 2010, Yanukovych beat Tymo­shenko in a tight presidential race. Soon, Tymoshenko faced criminal charges for signing a gas deal with Russia while she was prime minister in 2009. Yanu­kovych described the deal as overly expensive. Now Ukraine’s financial problems are complicated by a $1.3 billion gas debt to Russia that Yanukovych blames on Tymo­shenko. “Ukraine suffered financial damage,” Yanukovych said in September.

“The courts have to give the response.” The United States called the prosecution of Tymoshenko selective justice, not arguing her innocence but asserting that she was targeted for political reasons. Last week in the U.S. Senate, Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) read a resolution calling on Ukraine to release her. “Ukraine is our friend and ally. It helped us in Libya and Afghanistan,” Durbin said. “But when you join the community of democracies, you don’t throw your former political opponents in jail over policy disagreements. Instead, you offer better ideas and beat them in elections.” Freedom House, a Washington organization that monitors human rights around the world, called Ukraine’s E.U. decision a retreat from democracy. “Yanukovych has decided it’s more important to keep Tymo­shenko in prison than to integrate Ukraine closer toward Europe,” David J. Kramer, Freedom House president, said in a statement. “He has left his country vulnerable to Vladimir Putin’s threats and pressure.” Ukrainians, who had been negotiating the E.U. trade and political agreement since 2007, argue that Tymoshenko is a more potent symbol elsewhere than at home.

Pogrebinsky points out that before entering politics, she was a gas industry executive associated with Pavlo Lazarenko, a former energy minister and prime minister who was found guilty in 2004 of money laundering in the United States. “She’s not a model of democracy and liberal management,” he said. Europeans contend that Ukraine is missing the point. “It’s a test of trust and a test of the quality of your leadership,” Radoslaw Sikorski, the Polish foreign minister, told Ukrainian officials at a September forum. E.U. officials say the agreement, which was scheduled to be signed Friday, would have brought Ukraine investor confidence and new opportunities. On Monday they criticized Russia for intervening. Turning its back on international support will mean disaster for Ukraine, said Grigory Perepelitsa, an international policy expert in Kiev. “Kiev will not be able to resist pressure from Russia,” he said. “Ukraine will lose its sovereignty, politically and economically.” Soon Russia will be pressuring Ukraine to join a Customs Union it has set up with Belarus and Kazakhstan, Perepelitsa predicted, adding that such a union offers few advantages. “Ukraine needs to start modernizing its economy,” he said.

“It needs to introduce new technologies and new equipment. That means a lot of investment. Russia has neither technology nor investment for Ukraine.” Russia has little to offer beyond promises, Perepelitsa said: “Eventually, Ukraine will face economic collapse, which will lead to very deep political crises with unpredictable consequences.” Last week, the Baltic News Service reported that Yanukovych had called Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite to tell her that Russian economic pressure and blackmail had forced the decision. Putin countered that Europe was doing the blackmailing. Russian observers interpreted the decision as pure self-interest. Yanukovych is expected to run again for president in 2015, and he wants no dismal economic news over the next year. “Today the most important thing for Yanukovych is his political future,” Alexei Vlasov, a Moscow State University expert on post-Soviet countries, told the Kommersant newspaper. “The advantages of integration with Europe are long-term, whereas the adverse effects of a quarrel with Moscow would appear tomorrow.” So Tymoshenko remains in prison. And demonstrators are back in Kiev’s squares.

world Tymoshenko, Ukraine’s Jailed Ex-Premier, Gets Decision in Her Favor - The New York Times The New York Times Europe |Jailed Official in Ukraine Gets Decision in Her Favor Search Continue reading the main story MOSCOW — Before she went to jail a year and eight months ago, Yulia V. Tymoshenko joked that she carried a toothbrush and a bottle of water in her purse in case of arrest. Although she is a former Ukrainian prime minister, Ms. Tymoshenko, 52, thought she should be prepared for a few days of rough conditions. The days stretched into months before the first significant legal decision in her favor came down on Monday, a ruling in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, which settles cases of rights abuse after plaintiffs have exhausted their appeals in their home country’s courts. The court ruled that Ms. Tymoshenko’s arrest midway through a 2011 trial on charges that she had abused her office while concluding a natural gas deal with Russia was illegal and politically motivated. It rejected a claim that conditions in prison were inhumane and degrading. In Kiev, Ukraine ’s capital, Ms.

Tymoshenko’s daughter, Eugenia, told a news conference that the ruling was a “first ray of sunlight” for her imprisoned mother. Advertisement Continue reading the main story “The European court has recognized my mom as a political prisoner, and now the authorities in Ukraine will no longer be able to deny this,” she said. The ruling, however, does not oblige Ukraine’s judicial system to order Ms. Tymoshenko’s release or decide on the merits of the case against her. It covered Ms. Tymoshenko’s arrest in August of 2011 on contempt of court charges stemming from her remaining seated while addressing a judge. The court ruled that her subsequent imprisonment for about four months during the trial and initial appeal, before her sentence took effect, was groundless because she was not a flight risk and had shown up at court. It was done, the court said, in an effort to prevent her from taking part in politics. “The most important part of the ruling is the European court confirmed that the prosecution of Tymoshenko had a political nature,” Halyna Senyk, a member of Ms. Tymoshenko’s legal team at the court, said in a telephone interview from Lviv, in western Ukraine.

“It says the incumbent was intending to lock her up to prevent her from participating in political activity.” The Ukrainian government had no immediate response to the ruling other than to say it would study it carefully. President Viktor F. Yanukovich has denied trying to influence the Ukrainian court. He has said he cannot pardon Ms. Tymoshenko because she faces charges in three other criminal cases. The Tymoshenko case sheds light on politics in Ukraine that, much like the country itself, straddle a divide between a European sensibility and traditions deeply rooted in the Soviet Union. Mr. Yanukovich , a burly provincial politician, has pushed back on Russian efforts to bring Ukraine within Moscow’s sphere of influence, defying critics who had caricatured him as a Russian puppet. But at home he has not hesitated to jail opponents, and then pardon some later. The county is growing isolated. In slowing talks on a free trade zone with Ukraine, the European Union referred to the “selective prosecution” that occurs there. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Aides to Ms.

Tymoshenko, a steely, stylish politician who makes a point of wearing her hair in a traditional Ukrainian braid, say the government hopes to keep her imprisoned long enough to render her irrelevant in Ukrainian politics. The case that led to Monday’s ruling began in a crowded, sweaty Kiev courtroom where, during her trial, Ms. Tymoshenko, petite and wearing cream and lavender suits, sat with her hands crossed on a table in front of her. She once wrote that “every morning I dress to feel comfortable either at a riot or in prison.” Sitting, she told the judge, Rodion Kireyev, that she would not stand before him because she did not respect him: he was not a legitimate judge because the proceedings were not criminal but political, she said. Judge Kireyev’s decision to jail her for contempt and then approve a prosecutorial appeal to remand her to jail for the length of trial because she had arrived late were the narrow subjects of the human rights court’s ruling. The Kiev trial ended with her conviction and sentence to seven years in a women’s prison, which took effect in December 2011, four months after her detention in August.

A separate appeal is pending at the human rights court on her conviction on the abuse of office charges. A version of this article appears in print on May 1, 2013, on Page A6 of the New York edition with the headline: Ruling Favors Ex-Premier Who Is Jailed In Ukraine. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe Ukraine's ex-PM Tymoshenko arrested | Fox News Ukraine's ex-PM Tymoshenko arrested Facebook 0 Twitter 0 livefyre Email Print KIEV, Ukraine – Acting on a judge's orders, police arrested former Ukraine Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko during her abuse-of-office trial on Friday for violations of court procedures. Her supporters in court, including national lawmakers, squabbled with police, trying to prevent them from driving her away in a prison car and shouting: "Shame! Shame!" The charismatic Tymoshenko, the country's top opposition leader, has criticized the trial as an attempt by President Viktor Yanukovych to bar her from elections and mocked the hearings. She has refused to rise when addressing the court, as required, and routinely insulted the judge. Her supporters have repeatedly disrupted hearings.

Complying with the presiding judge's orders, police surrounded Tymoshenko and escorted her out of the courtroom. The 50-year-old opposition leader is charged with abusing her powers by signing a natural gas import contract with Russia in 2009 that prosecutors claim was disadvantageous to Ukraine. Tymoshenko insists she is innocent, arguing that the contract ended weeks of natural gas disruptions to Ukrainian and European consumers and that she was authorized to sign the deal as prime minister. Advertisement

Question: Yulia Tymashenko imprisoned for abuse of her office was a former Prime Minister of which European country?
Answer: UKRAINE